Another school urged teachers to jettison reading material and use COVID funds to buy “appropriate” replacements, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.īook bans can run afoul of the First Amendment, experts have said. In Florida, a similar law caused one school in Manatee County to shroud their library shelves with sheets. Tomes' Senate Bill 12 draws vocal support, opposition
The move is part of nationwide effort by conservative politicians and activists to control and cull school materials – especially those that deal with LGBTQ subject matter. If it agrees, any librarian or school employee caught disseminating the material afterward could face a Level 6 felony charge and as much as two-and-a-half years in prison. The school’s “governing body” would then review the request. Parents – or even a community member who lives in a respective school district – can ask for any book they deem "offensive" to be banned from their school. What began as a bill about third-party vendors in schools eventually morphed into legislation that could allow certain books to be classified as “harmful to minors." That would label the works as obscene and basically treat them like pornography, which the state has already banned for juveniles. Eric Holcomb signed into law on Tuesday, it could easily happen again – and with much different results. “I have been instructed by the board to inform everyone present,” he said, reading from a statement before a packed meeting on March 9 of that year, “that we will not allow our public board meetings to be used as a forum by self-righteous groups to promote their personal beliefs.”Īll that unfolded more than four decades ago. Finally, board president Tony Pappano had enough.
Protesters went on to target a parent-approved sex education class for junior high students, as well as an elective course in which kids could play “Dungeons & Dragons," the famous roleplaying game they claimed promoted worship of the devil. That request to moderate reading materials in the Southern Indiana town in the spring of 1982 eventually careened into a circus that packed school board meetings, drew national headlines, and rose the ire of everyone from upset community members to a fundamentalist Texas couple known for banning textbooks.Īnd it didn't stop at the John Steinbeck novel.
A person who happened to overhear took an interest and decided to take the matter to the next school board meeting.Īnd that’s when the accusations of pornography and Satanism began. Still, they decided to share the experience with their pastor at church not long after. The school had set up procedures for just this sort of thing, and everyone was accommodating and friendly. The teenager had been assigned to read the classic novel at school, but after speaking with his teacher at Tell City Junior High, his parents struck a deal: he'd read “The Red Badge of Courage” instead.Īs far as they were concerned, the matter was settled. View Gallery: 2023 Prom Season is underway in the Tri-StateĪfter their son found “dirty words” in “Of Mice and Men,” a set of parents in Tell City, Indiana, decided to do something about it.
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